Green Room

Video: An Army of One … brave little soldier

Pull out the hankies for this story. When an Army major in Kuwait found out that a 10-year-old boy in his home town was undergoing treatment for cancer and that his life’s ambition was to serve in the Army, he rounded up soldiers in the Albany area to make a dream come true.

According to the Albany Herald, Maj. Norland James spoke to Quarles over Skype after a friend of his who is a nurse at Gilchrest Hospice Center in Baltimore — where the 10-year-old spends most of his time — told her about the boy and how he loved the idea of being in the army.

James said he liked the idea of being able to video chat with Quarles, but he wanted to do more than that. He spoke to some servicemen from Ft. Meade, which is near the hospice, and arranged for a surprise for Quarles.

James and Quarles spoke for about 15 minutes before James told the child to go outside. When he did, there were about 25 military and civilian personnel standing outside his home. Quarles, who was already dressed in military fatigues, sat in front of American flag and was then approached by Captain Brandon Crawford.

“It came to my attention that one of your lifelong ambitions was to become a soldier,” Crawford said. “So I brought a few of my troops here to make you an honorary member of the United States Army. What do you think of that?”

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